Wichita State-UNI: A game that’s just plain big

This Wichita State-Northern Iowa men's basketball game Saturday afternoon in Cedar Falls is kind of a big deal.

The won-lost records spell that out clearly enough, of course. Wichita State is 19-2 overall, 9-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. UNI is 19-2, 8-1.

That the Shockers are ranked 12th and the Panthers are 18th speaks volumes, too.

But get this: This will be the first time two ranked teams from the Missouri Valley have met since 1982, when No. 18 Tulsa beat No. 16 Wichita State.

This week, in fact, marks the first time two Valley teams were ranked in the top 18 since 1983. This is the first time since 1960 that two teams from the conference had records this good so deep into the season

Northern Iowa's No. 18 ranking is merely the highest in the school's history. The Panthers will be ranked a few slots higher next week, of course, if they beat Wichita State in the McLeod Center.

The Shockers, by the way, have a 27-game winning streak in conference play.

UNI's lone losses were on the road, to Virginia Commonwealth (17-3 and now ranked 15th) and Evansville (15-5).

Wichita's State's losses were by one point at Utah (now ranked 10th) and against George Washington (16-5) in Hawaii.

The Shockers' record since the start of the 2009-10 season is 165-36. Its conference record in that time is 81-18.

The Panthers have won two Valley regular-season titles under Ben Jacobson. One more regular-season win guarantees they will still never have had a losing league record in Jacobson's nine years as head coach.

Yep. This game is kind of a big deal.